Photographer Denis Rion

Biography

After twenty years working as a lighting designer for theatre and dance, creating stage lighting naturally led me towards photography.

Meeting artists, directors and choreographers from different countries played a decisive role in my desire to capture and communicate.

Five continents: a wealth of cultures, ways of life, ways of thinking and rhythms. Meeting others through their art and their lives has always interested me, increasingly so over time.

I try to bring back something of other places to express our differences while also showing that we share one world. For several years, I have documented contemporary choreographic creation through photography.

This work has taken place on several continents and has featured in exhibitions in Mali, Madagascar, French Guiana, Brazil, South Africa and France, at contemporary dance festivals and other events.

Photojournalism is a new strand of my photographic work.

“Madagascar is a country that continues to fascinate and move me every time I visit. Despite major economic difficulties, I find among Malagasy people a dignity, vitality and patience that command respect. The light in their eyes, especially children’s eyes, is unique.

I have also been visiting the ‘Great Island’ for five years to carry out various projects:
– Photographic coverage of the I’Trôtra contemporary dance festival and the Zegny’Zo street theatre festival;
– Organising artist residencies in photography, video and visual arts;
– Building a photographic archive.
These projects are developed with the Institut Français and the island’s Alliances Françaises.”

Photographer Richard Negri

Biography

“I am a self-taught photographer and regularly attend workshops to improve my knowledge and practice.

I began photography in the early 1970s, but it was several years before I became an independent photographic artist, while continuing another profession. I work with film and digital cameras, do a great deal of street photography, and enjoy portraits that grow out of encounters. Alongside this, I pursue medium- and long-term projects that evolve over time, such as my work in Madagascar.

I regularly take part in local exhibitions in Occitanie, including travel photography events, exhibitions at Hôtel Lacoste in Pézenas and media libraries.

What drives me is the need and desire to bring a subject or person to light, to bear witness and tell a story while giving the image a poetic dimension. When the subject allows, I like to introduce a degree of blur through shutter speed or depth of field, within a personal photographic language I continue to develop.

My approach is therefore mainly documentary, sometimes touching on vernacular photography, but above all seeking to bring poetry to the image.

I generally develop my work through series or specific projects, which may overlap, on subjects that matter to me and can move me. They are usually medium- or long-term projects, because I feel they are never finished: they evolve with time, years, encounters, wishes and ideas.”